The Feast of the Baptism of Jesus Christ

Today’s Sunday Gospel is about the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ by St. John the Baptist because today is the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. In case you get the wrong idea, our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized when he was already 30 years old because it was the beginning of this Galilean Ministry. It just so happened that tradition puts the date on January, which in today’s Catholic world is just the right for Baptism because it’s just a few weeks after Christmas Day. You can read this on your Bible on Matt. 3:13-17.

“13 Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” 15 Jesus said to him in reply. “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. 16 After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened (for him), and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. 17 And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Call it coincidental that for his first public audience in Rome for the New Year 2014 Pope Francis gave a reflection on the Sacrament of Baptism, giving out a new catechesis on this first sacrament of salvation. Pope Francis began by saying “Baptism is a Sacrament in which our faith is founded upon and which engages us as living members in Christ and in his Church.” Pope Francis gave emphasis on three very important sacraments, Baptist, the Holy Eucharist and Confirmation where he said, “All this three make up a single event makes us sign of God’s Love.”

Indeed, the Sacrament of Baptism is so important to all Christians because without it you have no right to be called a Christian, you are nothing but a pagan. As other theologians would say, “Baptism is the Door of our Faith.” It is the very sacrament, which initiates us as members of the Body of Christ. As Pope Francis points out, “Baptism is not merely a simple rite or formality, but an act that “profoundly touches our existence.” How true! Without Baptism, there is no point in our existence as paradise is lost. It is in Baptism that we are called Children of God and make the claim as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

Finally, Pope Francis teaches us, “Thanks to Baptism, we are capable of forgiving and to love even those who offend us and hurt us, that we can recognize in the last ones and in the poor the face of the Lord who visits us and comes close to us with this Baptism helps us to recognize in the face of the needy, in those suffering, even in our neighbor, the face of Jesus. It is a grace of this strength of Baptism.”

Now if you read today’s gospel story, you will note that before our Lord Jesus was baptized by John the latter protested and tried to prevent this by saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply. “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” This conversation is quite significant because  both Jesus and John already had their life missions cut out for them. John was to herald the coming of the Messiah, while our Lord Jesus came not to be served, but to serve so that souls who believe in him might have eternal life. Yes, our Lord Jesus became man in order to die for our sins and save us.

I’m sure that you must be asking within yourselves why then did our Lord Jesus Christ allow John to baptize him? First of all, the Baptism of John was a Baptism of Repentance and since our Lord Jesus Christ was born into the world without a stain of sin, he did not really need the Baptism of John? How true!

However our Lord Jesus Christ was trying to set an example of a true servant leader who before he accepts his mission in life, must embrace a life of humility. You will learn more about the humility of our Lord in the Bible, especially on the night before the Last Supper, when he washed the feet of his disciples…something that leaders in ancient times would never do.

Last Sunday was the Feast of the Three Kings or the Magi, which was also the Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany. We already taught you that Epiphany was the manifestation of our Lord’s Divinity. So in a way, our Lord Jesus Christ allowed John to baptize our Lord so he too could witness the Epiphany of Christ because right after the Baptism of our Lord, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and manifested as a dove, while God the Father came up with a voice, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Thus the die was cast in the River Jordan that the God man would fulfill all that was told about him in order to fulfill all righteousness and because of the humility of our Lord Jesus, the heavens opened to manifest his divinity.

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